A computer network, often referred to simply as a network, is a group of interconnected computing devices that facilitates communication among users and allows users to share resources, for example, storage space at storage devices using a storage area network (SAN). Adapters, switches, and routers may be used to interconnect network devices.
Initiators are used to send input/output (I/O) requests for storing or reading data at storage devices that are managed by a target controller. An initiator may be an adapter coupled to a computing system that sends out I/O requests for reading or writing data. A target may be an adapter coupled to the target controller that provides a response to the I/O request. Various transport protocols, for example, Fibre Channel, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, iSCSI (Internet over Small Computer System Interface) and others are used for sending I/O requests. Continuous efforts are being made to improve I/O processing.